Wireless vehicle energy sharing

ABSTRACT

Technologies are generally described for a distributed system to provide wireless energy sharing between electrically powered vehicles. In some examples, two or more vehicles traveling on a roadway may be configured to share energy while in route to a destination. The vehicles may be equipped with wireless energy transfer units to enable the vehicles to exchange energy. At least one of the vehicles may be a mobile electric charging station configured to store a large amount of charge and to provide charge to vehicles. The electric charging station may be in communication with a controller, where the controller may be configured to identify vehicles in need of recharge and to identify at least one vehicle having sufficient charge to share. The controller may schedule a time and place for the two vehicles to meet in order to share charge. Additionally, the vehicles may be self-coordinated without a controller.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation application under 35 U.S.C.§120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/538,615 filed on Nov. 11, 2014 TheU.S. Application, including any appendices or attachments thereof, ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in thesection are not prior art to the claims in the application and are notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in the section.

Electric vehicles are experiencing rapid growth in the automotiveindustry, and may provide an alternative to gas-fueled vehicles. Someelectric vehicles may be powered by stored electricity originallytransmitted from an external power source and stored on board thevehicle using a battery, flywheel, and/or supercapacitors, for example.Some electric vehicles may have a shorter operation range thangas-fueled vehicles, and so may be charged on a regular basis tomaintain enough charge for vehicle operation. Additionally, chargingelectric vehicles may take a longer amount of time than filling up a gastank. Traveling long distances on roadways in electric vehicles mayinvolve regular and frequent charging in order to maintain enough chargefor longer trip ranges.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure generally describes methods, apparatus, systems,devices, and/or computer program products related to providing wirelessvehicle energy sharing.

According to some examples, a distributed system to provide wirelessenergy sharing within a vehicle convoy may be described. An examplesystem may include a charge vehicle communicatively coupled to aplurality of vehicles in the vehicle convoy, where the charge vehiclemay be configured to provide electrical energy to at least one of theplurality of vehicles and the plurality of vehicles may be configured tobe powered by electrical energy and may be configured to rechargewirelessly while moving. The system may also include the at least onevehicle from the plurality of vehicles, which may be configured todetermine a situation for the at least one vehicle to receive arecharge, determine that the charge vehicle may be capable to providethe recharge, position near the charge vehicle to wirelessly receiveelectrical energy for the recharge, and recharge through wireless energytransfer from the charge vehicle.

According to some examples, a system to provide wireless energy sharingbetween vehicles in a vehicle convoy may be described. An example systemmay include a charge vehicle configured to lead the vehicle convoy storeelectrical energy, and wirelessly provide the stored electrical energyto a plurality of other vehicles in the vehicle convoy, where theplurality of other vehicles may be configured to be powered byelectrical energy and configured to recharge wirelessly while moving,and a controller communicatively coupled to the charge vehicle and theplurality of other vehicles. The controller may be configured todetermine one or more vehicles among the plurality of other vehicles toreceive a recharge, instruct the one or more vehicles to position in anorder relative to the charge vehicle within the vehicle convoy towirelessly receive electrical energy for the recharge, where the ordermay be determined according to remaining charge levels of the one ormore vehicles, and instruct the charge vehicle to recharge the one ormore vehicles after being positioned near the charge vehicle.

According to some examples, a method to provide wireless energy sharingbetween vehicles in a vehicle convoy may be described. An example methodmay include determining one or more vehicles to receive a recharge, theone or more vehicles within the vehicle convoy including a chargevehicle, the charge vehicle configured to store and provide electricalenergy to the one or more vehicles, instructing the one or more vehiclesto position in an order relative to the charge vehicle to receiveelectrical energy wirelessly for the recharge, where the order may bedetermined based on remaining charge levels of the one or more vehicles,and instructing the charge vehicle to recharge the one or more vehiclesafter being positioned near the charge vehicle.

According to some examples, a charge vehicle to provide wireless energysharing to a plurality of vehicles within a vehicle convoy may bedescribed. An example charge vehicle may include a wirelesscommunication module configured to communicate with the plurality ofvehicles, a power storage unit (PSU) configured to store electricalenergy, a wireless energy transfer (WET) unit coupled to the PSU andconfigured to wirelessly provide electrical energy to one or more of theplurality of vehicles positioned near the charge vehicle, and acontroller coupled to the wireless communication module, the PSU, andthe WET unit.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features of the disclosure will become morefully apparent from the following description and appended claims, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with thedisclosure and are not to be considered limiting of scope, thedisclosure will be described with additional specificity and detailthrough use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an example system of vehicles configured tocommunicate wirelessly and share energy through wireless transfer whilein motion;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example wireless transfer of energy between twovehicles while in motion;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an example of vehicles relocating in avehicle train to receive energy wirelessly;

FIG. 4 illustrates a general purpose computing device, which may beconfigured to be used in connection with wireless vehicle energysharing;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method to providewireless vehicle energy sharing in a centrally controlled system, whichmay be performed or otherwise controlled by a computing device such asthe computing device in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer programproduct, all arranged in accordance with at least some embodimentsdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols identify similar components, unless context dictatesotherwise,. The illustrative embodiments described in the detaileddescription, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Otherembodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presentedherein. The aspects of the present disclosure, as generally describedherein, and illustrated in the Figures, may be arranged, substituted,combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety of differentconfigurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated herein.

The present disclosure is generally drawn, inter alia, to methods,apparatus, systems, devices, and or computer program products related toproviding wireless vehicle energy sharing.

Briefly stated, technologies are generally described for a distributedsystem to provide wireless energy sharing between electrically poweredvehicles. In some examples, two or more vehicles traveling on a roadwaymay be configured to share energy while in route to a destination. Thevehicles may be equipped with wireless energy transfer units to enablethe vehicles, to exchange energy. At least one of the vehicles may be amobile electric charging station configured to store a large amount ofcharge and to provide charge to vehicles. The electric charging stationmay be in communication with a controller, where the controller may beconfigured to identify vehicles in need of recharge and to identify atleast one vehicle having sufficient charge to share. The controller mayschedule a time and place for the two vehicles to meet in order to sharecharge. Additionally, the vehicles may be self-coordinated without acontroller.

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an example system of vehicles configured tocommunicate wirelessly and share energy through wireless transfer whilein motion, arranged in accordance with at least sonic embodimentsdescribed herein.

In a diagram 100, a controller 110 is shown in communication 114 withone or more vehicles (e.g., vehicles 101, 102, 103, 104, 105 and 106).The controller 110 may be in communication 114 with the one or morevehicles 101-106 through a communication component 112. Each of the oneor more vehicles 101-106 may also include respective communicationcomponents 113 to enable communication with the controller 114 and/orwith other communication components. Example communication components113 (which may embody antennas, transceivers, and/or related circuitryand other elements to support operation thereof) may enable one or moreof a wired communication, a cellular wireless communication, an opticalcommunication, a near field communication, a wireless local area networkcommunication, and a wide area network communication and/or othercommunication between the controller and the one or more vehicles101-106.

In an example embodiment as illustrated in a diagram 150, the one ormore vehicles 101-106 may include electric vehicles. Electric vehiclesmay recharge frequently when in route to a destination, such as adestination that is distant in terms of miles to be traveled. In someexamples, the electric vehicles may be capable of grouping together intoa group, such as a vehicle convoy, while traveling. When in the group,the vehicles may communicate with each other through communicationcomponents 113, thereby enabling wireless communication. Electric energymay also be exchanged between the vehicles by using wireless energytransfer 122, 124 techniques, such as electromagnetic resonance and/orultrasound techniques.

In some embodiments, one of the vehicles in (he group may be a chargevehicle 101 having an extensive supply of electric energy sufficient toat least partially charge one or more other vehicles. Energy from thecharge vehicle 101 may be wirelessly transferred 122, 124 from thecharge vehicle 101 to one or more of the electric vehicles (e.g.,vehicles 102, 105) in the group. The charge vehicle 101 may, forexample, transfer energy to the vehicle that is the closest physicalproximity to the charge vehicle 101, or in other embodiments, the chargevehicle 101 may transfer energy to two or more vehicles simultaneouslyor otherwise concurrently or near concurrently. In yet otherembodiments, the charge vehicle 101 may transfer energy to the vehiclewith the lowest determined charge level, even if such vehicle is notnecessarily the closest in proximity to the charge vehicle 101 at thetime that a recharge is needed. The charge vehicle 101 may communicate126,128 with the one or more vehicles 102,105 in the group throughcommunication components 113 as described herein to coordinate chargetransfer to one or more of the vehicles. For purposes of illustration,the vehicle 101 is referred to herein as the charge vehicle—such acharge vehicle may include a vehicle that is specifically dedicated toproviding charge to other vehicle(s), but may also include any of thevehicles described herein that can provide passenger-cargo transport aswell as providing charge to other vehicles. Any of the other vehicles inthe convoy or other solitary or grouped vehicle may also operate as acharge vehicle. Alternatively or additionally, the charge vehicle canitself be recharged when needed (e.g., when such charge vehicle isrunning low on charge sufficient to power itself and/or sufficient tocharge other vehicles), using the methods/devices described herein, soas to obtain charge from another vehicle that is operating as a chargevehicle.

In some example embodiments, the controller 110 may facilitate groupingor otherwise organizing vehicles needing recharge near the chargevehicle 101. For example, one or more charge vehicles 101 on a roadwaysystem may be managed by the controller 110. The controller 110 mayidentify one or more vehicles (for example, vehicles 102, 105) on theroadway with a need to recharge, and may instruct the one or morevehicles 102, 105 needing recharge to position near the charge vehicle101 to receive electrical energy wirelessly for the needed recharge. Thecontroller 110 may also instruct the charge vehicle 101 to recharge theone or more vehicles (for example, vehicles 102, 105) when positionednear the charge vehicle 101.

In some examples, the controller 110 may suggest a path for the one ormore vehicles to approach the charge vehicle 101. The suggested path maybe determined based on a multitude of factors. Some example factors mayinclude remaining charge levels of the one or more vehicles, presentlocations of the one or more vehicles, a present location of the chargevehicle, a direction of the charge vehicle, directions of the one ormore vehicles, a speed of the charge vehicle, speeds of the one or morevehicles, one or more obstacles between the charge vehicle and the oneor more vehicles, and/or other factor(s) or combination(s) thereof.Additionally, the controller 110 may instruct the one or more vehiclesto approach the charge vehicle 101 in a particular order/sequenceaccording to remaining charge levels of the one or more vehicles, adistance between the charge vehicle 101 and the one or more vehicles,and/or a time of request to recharge received from each vehicle, as someexamples. Furthermore, two or more vehicles may approach the chargevehicle 101 concurrently, and may receive wireless energy transfer fromthe charge vehicle 101 simultaneously or otherwise together. Inexamples, the controller 110 may instruct the one or more vehicles toposition near the charge vehicle 101 by transmitting automatedself-navigation instructions to a self-driving vehicle and/ortransmitting instructions to a driver of the one or more vehicles.

In other example embodiments, a vehicle may request to join a chargevehicle 101 that is in route to a particular destination and/or at aparticular time. Depending on energy requirements, a time, and/or adestination of the requesting vehicle, a schedule can be made tocoordinate the requesting vehicle with the charge vehicle 101. Forefficiency, the controller 110 may group two or more vehicles withsimilar destinations together, for example. The controller 110 maycommunicate a time and destination of where to join the charge vehicle101 to the requesting vehicle, and the requesting vehicle may driveitself and/or use self-driving capabilities to coordinate with thecharge vehicle 101.

In an example scenario, a driver desiring to travel by electric car to adestination may send a request to the controller 110 that operates oneor more charge vehicles 101. The controller 110 may identify one or morecharge vehicles 101 on the roadway system, and may notify the requestingdriver of one or more charge vehicles 101 within a predefined range ofthe requesting driver and/or on a similar route to the requestingvehicle's destination. The requesting driver may select a charge vehicle101 to join, and may join the selected charge vehicle 101 at the chargevehicle's location to recharge its vehicle.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example wireless transfer of energy between twovehicles while in motion, arranged in accordance with at least someembodiments described herein.

A diagram 200 demonstrates a first vehicle 202 and a second vehicle 205,which may be grouped together while in route to a destination for thepurpose of wireless energy transfer. The first vehicle 202 may include abattery 206 for energy storage, and one or more wireless energy transfer(WET) units 204,208. Likewise, the second vehicle 205 (as well as othervehicles in a convoy) may also include a battery 212 and one or more WETunits 210,214.

In some examples, the first vehicle 202 and the second vehicle 24 may bepart of a vehicle convoy, where a vehicle convoy may be two or morevehicles grouped together while traveling. Thus, as a third vehicle,etc. may follow in sequence behind the second vehicle 205 in the vehicleconvoy and may also include a respective battery and WET units. Adestination of the vehicle convoy may be determined in advance, or maybe determined by one of the vehicles in the vehicle convoy, which may bea group leader. In some examples, the group leader may be a chargevehicle configured to provide energy to one or more vehicles within thevehicle convoy. In some embodiments, the charge vehicle may be the groupleader to lead the vehicle convoy by being the first vehicle positionedat the front of the convoy. The charge vehicle in other embodiments maybe a group leader that is positioned in other locations within theconvoy, such as at the end, in the middle, and/or other positions thatare not necessarily at the front of the moving vehicle convoy—in suchsituations, the vehicle(s) needing a recharge can position themselves inappropriate proximity (front, rear, side, etc.) relative to the chargevehicle, so as to receive a suitable recharge. In the vehicle convoy, atleast some of the vehicles may be in an automated self-driving mode, anda distance between each of the vehicles may be relatively small. Thevehicles in the automated self-driving mode may be configured to followthe group leader vehicle (and/or any other vehicle in front of it)without requiring active driving by a driver.

In a system according to embodiments, the WET units (e.g., WET units204, 208, 210 and 214) may be configured to enable energy to betransferred 220 wirelessly between the first vehicle 202 and the secondvehicle 205. In some examples, as demonstrated in the diagram 200, eachof the first vehicle 202 and the second vehicle 205 may include WETunits at the front end and the back end of the vehicle to enable thevehicles to exchange energy when the vehicles are lined up in a vehicletrain configuration from front to back. For example, WET unit 204 may beat the front end and WET unit 208 may be at the back end of the firstvehicle 202. The WET units (e.g.,, WET units 204 and 208) may also be atother locations on the vehicles. The WET units (204, 208, 210 and 214)may enable energy to be wirelessly transferred 220 from a first WETunit, such as the WET unit 208 on the hack end of the first vehicle 202to a second WET unit, such as the WET unit 210 located on the front endof the second vehicle 205. The WET unit 214 at the back end of thesecond vehicle 205 may, in turn, be used for wireless energy transferwith another vehicle that follows the second vehicle 205. The WET unitsmay transfer energy employing various wireless energy transfertechniques. Some example techniques may include inductive coupling,magnetic resonance coupling, optical energy transfer, and/or ultrasoundenergy transfer and/or other energy transfer technique or combinationsthereof. In an example, magnetic resonance coupling may allow relativelyhigh efficiency of energy transfer, in a range of about 50%, overdistances up to several meters, which may enable energy transfer whenthe vehicles are several meters apart. For magnetic resonance coupling,the charging distance that can be achieved may be in the order of thesize of the inductor used. In case of a vehicle, an inductor of size1×0.5 m may be integrated in the back of the car, which may allowtransfer with efficiency of about 80%-90% with magnetic resonancecoupling when proximity is within 1 m, for example. For a vehicle trainof self-driving cars, 1 m may be a safe distance. Increased range ofwireless power transfer may be achieved by increasing the size of theinductor. If this is not possible, the efficiency may be reduced. Inother examples, a charge car may be specialized (e.g., a large truck)and may employ an inductor of larger size (e.g. 2×1 m) in its front andback. A speed with which the energy can be transferred 220 between WETunits may depend on the wireless energy transfer technique employed.

In an example scenario of enemy transfer, the battery 206 of the firstvehicle 202 may be fully charged and the battery 212 of the secondvehicle 205 may be less full and could benefit from a recharge. Forexample, the second vehicle's battery 212 may not have enough charge forthe second vehicle 212 to reach to its destination. While the firstvehicle 202 and the second vehicle 205 are grouped together and/or arewithin a vehicle convoy, energy may be transferred 220 between the WETunit 208 on the back of the first vehicle 202 and the WET unit 210 onthe front of the second vehicle 205 to provide the second vehicle'sbattery 212 with enough charge to travel to its destination and/or toreach a certain distance where another recharge can be performed. Inanother embodiment, the first vehicle 202 may be a charge vehicleconfigured to store an abundance of energy while traveling on a roadwayand to provide the stored energy to a multitude of vehicles while inmotion. Such a scenario is described in further detail below in co.unction with FIGS. 3A and 3B.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an example of vehicles relocating in avehicle train to receive energy wirelessly, arranged in accordance withat least some embodiments described herein.

A diagram 300 demonstrates an example vehicle convoy (also called avehicle train), which may include two or more electric vehicles (e.g..,vehicles 308, 316, 320) traveling together. The vehicle convoy may beled by a group leader vehicle, which may be a charge vehicle 302, whichmay perform group leader tasks such as leading the other vehicles(vehicles 308, 316, 320) in the vehicle to a destination. For example, atrained driver may drive, the group leader vehicle, and the othervehicles 308, 316, 320 in the convoy may automatically follow the groupleader vehicle such that the drivers of the other vehicles may not haveto actively drive their vehicles. As described herein, the vehicles mayhave a self-driving mode to automatically follow other vehicles, or thegroup leader, in the convoy, and the destination of the convoy may bedetermined in advance by the group leader vehicle. The group leadervehicle may be configured to guide the other vehicles to theirdestination, hut may not necessarily itself have a final destination andmay travel between multiple destinations continuously.

In a system according to embodiments, the group leader vehicle may bethe charge vehicle 302 configured to store an abundance of energy and toprovide the stored energy to the vehicles 308, 316, 320 within theconvoy while traveling. The charge vehicle 302 may include an energystorage component 304 such as a battery or a capacitor array for storageof the abundance of energy. The charge vehicle 302 may also include awireless energy transfer (WET) unit 306 to enable exchange of energywith one or more of the other vehicles 308, 316, 320 in the convoy. Eachof the vehicles 308, 316, 320 in the convoy may also include at leastone WET unit (e.g., WET units 310 and 314). When the vehicles 308, 316,320 are in a vehicle convoy, the charge vehicle 302 may be configured towirelessly supply energy to the other vehicles 308, 316, 320 bytransmitting energy from its WET unit 306 to one or more of the WETunits (e.g., WET units 310, 314) of the other vehicles 308, 316, 320. Insome examples, the charge vehicle 302 may be associated with and managedby an electric charging station that provides wireless charging servicesto users on the road. The charge vehicle 302 may be used as a mobilealternative to stationary electric charging stations to enable vehiclesto recharge while traveling to a destination without having to leave thevehicle convoy to stop and recharge at a charging station. Furthermore,a controller (such as the controller 110 of FIG. 1) may be configured tomanage wireless energy transfer between vehicles in order to bill avehicle accordingly for receiving energy from the charge vehicle 302while traveling. The controller may be associated with the stationarycharging station and/or may be an independent controller. The controllermay also be located in any of the vehicles in the vehicle convoy (forexample, located in a charge vehicle or in one of the vehicles in thevehicle convoy that follows the charge vehicle), may be located in avehicle that is not part of the vehicle convoy, may be located in astationary location, and/or may be otherwise located elsewhere.

In further examples, the vehicles 308, 316, 320 may be configured toexchange energy with each other directly instead of directly from thecharge vehicle 302. For example, the first vehicle 308 in the vehicleconvoy may have extra charge or energy to share, and the second vehicle316 may need charge (or energy). The first vehicle 308 may wirelesslytransfer 315 its extra energy to the second vehicle 316 with the chargeshortage through their respective WET units. The vehicle providingenergy for recharge may be configured to bill the vehicle receiving theenergy. The price to receive energy from another vehicle may be higherthan receiving energy directly from the charge vehicle 302, which mayprovide an incentive for users of vehicles to share energy.

In some examples, as illustrated in a diagram 350 of FIG. 3B, two ormore vehicles may exchange their location in a vehicle convoy in orderto enable a vehicle needing recharge to move closer to the chargevehicle. When a vehicle that is part of the vehicle convoy needs ordesires to recharge, the order of the vehicles may be changed tofacilitate the transfer of energy wirelessly to this vehicle. Forexample, vehicle 316 may exchange 332 its place with vehicle 308. Thismay have the effect that the distance between the group leader chargevehicle 302 and the vehicle 316 is reduced to enable more efficientwireless energy transfer.

As previously described herein, a controller (such as the controller110) may manage an order of the vehicles within the convoy to facilitateefficient energy transfer. The controller may suggest a path and anorder for the one or more vehicles to approach the charge vehicle 302.The suggested path and order may be determined based on a multitude offactors. Some example factors may include remaining charge levels of theone or more vehicles, present locations of the one or more vehicles, adistance between the charge vehicle 302 and the one or more vehicles, apresent location of the charge vehicle, a direction of the chargevehicle, directions of the one or more vehicles, a speed of the chargevehicle, speeds of the one or more vehicles, one or more obstaclesbetween the charge vehicle and the one cot more vehicles, and/or a timeof request to recharge received from each vehicle, as some examples.Other factors or combinations thereof may also be considered. Thecontroller may instruct the one or more vehicles to position near thecharge vehicle 302 by transmitting automated self-navigationinstructions to a self-driving vehicle and/or transmitting instructionsto a driver of the one or more vehicles. The other vehicles in theconvoy may also receive instructions to allow the one or more vehiclesto move into their new positions within the vehicle convoy, such asinstructions to increase space(s) between such other vehicles so as toenable the one or more vehicles to move into the increased spaces thathave been created.

In some example embodiments, energy may be exchanged when vehicles arewithin a predefined range of one another, without taking into accountfactors sue a route and destination of the vehicles. In other exampleembodiments, a scheduled approach may enable coordination of energyexchange between vehicles on a roadway taking into account factors sucha destination and a planned route of the vehicles. In the scheduledapproach, coordinated energy exchange between vehicles may befacilitated by a controller and/or the vehicles themselves.

In an example embodiment of a scheduled approach to coordinate energyexchange between vehicles taking into account a destination and route, avehicle traveling to redefined destination may plan a route to anintended destination. The route planning may be performed with input ofthe user such as types of roads to take, for example. The route planningmay also estimate time the vehicle will be at a location on the route.Given the route planning, the vehicle may determine an amount of energy,E, that may be required to reach its destination, and whether it has anenergy shortage or energy abundance. In some cases, the destination maybe the final destination of the vehicle, and in some cases thedestination may be an intermediary planned stop where the vehicle mayrecharge. After determination of the energy shortage or energyabundance, the vehicle's planned route, estimated route timing, andenergy shortage or abundance information may be shared with othervehicles and/or a controller configured to coordinate scheduling of thevehicle needing energy with one or more vehicles having energy to share.

In some examples, energy shortage or abundance may be estimated basedon, factors such as a distance to the destination a current speed oftravel, and current energy usage. Other factors such as trafficconditions and elevation along the road to the destination may be takeninto account also. For instance, the vehicle may estimate its requiredenergy as E=Pxd_(r)/v_(c), where P is the power usage in Watts (W) orJoules per second (J/s), d_(r), is the remaining distance in meters andv_(c) is the current speed in meters per second (m/s). Instead of thecurrent speed, the average journey speed may be used also.

Based on energy still available in the batteries of the vehicle, E_(BAT)an energy shortage E_(SHORT) may be defined as E_(SHORT)=E_(BAT). IfE_(SHORT) is positive, then there may be energy shortage, and ifE_(SHORT) is negative, then there may be an abundance of energy to reachthe destination. If there is an energy shortage, then actions may beperformed to coordinate the vehicle having the energy shortage with acharge vehicle and/or another vehicle having an abundance of energy, asdescribed in further detail herein. If there is an energy abundance, atleast a portion of the energy may be available for sharing with othervehicles. The energy that the vehicle may share may be E_(SHARE). Theportion of the energy available for sharing may depend on severalfactors. For instance, the vehicle may limit the available portion toapproximately 80% to make sure that some backup energy is available.Furthermore, the vehicle may need to return and there may not be anopportunity for fully recharging its batteries. In such a case, not onlythe destination is taken into account, but also the fact that thevehicle needs to return.

As described herein, the vehicle's planned route, estimated routetiming, and energy shortage or abundance information may be madeavailable and/or shared with other vehicles. To share the route, timing,and energy information, the vehicle may send the information to a serverthat maintains a database that is updated in real-time. A facilitator orcontroller (such as the controller 110) for vehicle energy sharing maymaintain such database and may be configured to coordinate scheduling ofenergy transfer between vehicles. In another example, a peer-to-peerdistribution technique may be employed, where vehicles may directlyexchange information with each other, without the use of a centraldatabase.

Based on the information shared by the vehicle(s), an overlap betweenroutes taken by two or more vehicles may be determined such thatvehicles that have an energy shortage may share the road for at least aportion of a trip with one or more vehicles that have an energyabundance. There may be several approaches in which route and energyinformation may be used to schedule energy transfer between vehicles.

In an example approach, each of the vehicles that has an energy shortageto reach a destination may independently determine the intersection ofits own route with the routes taken by other vehicles based on theinformation shared by these vehicles. Alternatively, a controller maydetermine the intersection of a vehicle having an energy shortage withone or more vehicles having an energy abundance. These vehicles may thenbe contacted, to reserve an amount of energy to share with the vehiclein need of energy. A process that may be implemented by the vehicles todetermine the intersection of its own route with the routes taken byother vehicles may be first to generate a list of vehicles for which theroute intersects with the route of the vehicle under consideration. Suchan intersection may be both a spatial intersection (e.g. vehiclestraveling on the same road) and a temporal intersection (e.g., vehiclesare near each other while traveling on the road). The process may beperformed by the controller or by an individual vehicle, independently.Subsequently, a subset of vehicles from which to receive energy may beselected from the generated list.

An example process to determine the subset of vehicles, which may beperformed by the controller (such as the controller 110) or by anindividual vehicle independently, may be as follows. An initial list, I,may be generated where the list may include one or more vehicles thatshare part of the route with the vehicle having an energy shortage andalso includes each vehicle's corresponding energy available to share,E_(SHARE). In a first operation, an empty list, may be initializedtogether with a variable E_(R), where E_(R) signifies the amount ofenergy that may be received from the one or more vehicles on the initiallist, I. Subsequently, in a second operation, a vehicle on the initiallist, I, that has the largest E_(SHARE,id) may be identified. A variableE_(SHARE,max) may be set to this E_(SHARE,id). The identified vehiclehaving largest E_(SHARE,id) may be removed from the initial list, I, andadded to the list, L. In a third operation of the process, the value ofE_(SHARE,max) may be added to the E_(R). In a fourth operation of theprocess, the initial list, I, of input vehicles may be updated toaccount for a fact that some of the vehicles on the list, I, may share asame portion of their routes, and the value of E_(SHARE,id) of suchsecond vehicle may be modified in response. For example, if a firstvehicle is selected and added to the list, L, a second vehicle thatshares a same portion of the route with the first vehicle may not beused to receive energy from when energy is received from the firstvehicle (assuming a vehicle is receiving enemy from one vehicle at atime).

Subsequently, the controller and/or the vehicle needing energy maydetermine if the total amount of energy that can be received from thevehicles on the list, L, is sufficient to reach the destination. Ifthere is sufficient energy, then the process ends, and the output of theprocess is the list, L, which may provide a list of vehicles from whichto receive energy. If there is not sufficient energy from the vehicleson the list, the process may return to the second operation to identifyadditional vehicles having energy to share. Additionally, at some pointthe list, I, may be empty, and the process may terminate and output thecurrent list, L.

After determination of the subset of candidate vehicles from which toreceive energy, each of the candidate vehicles may be contacted byeither the vehicle needing energy and/or the controller, and may beinstructed to reserve a defined amount of energy to share. The vehicleneeding energy may continue on its originally planned route with somealternations in order to meet up with one or more of the identifiedvehicles from which to receive energy. For example, the vehicle mayalter its speed to be able to catch up with the vehicles from whichenergy will be received. The vehicle needing energy may also alter aroute to spatially and temporally intersect with one or more of theidentified vehicles based on a number of factors. The vehicle needingenergy and/or the controller may determine a suggested path and time forthe vehicle needing energy to approach a vehicle providing energy basedon one or more a remaining charge level of the vehicle, a presentlocation of the vehicle needing energy and a vehicle providing energy, adirection of the vehicle needing energy and a vehicle providing energy,a speed of the vehicle needing energy and a vehicle providing energy,and one or more obstacles between the vehicle needing energy and avehicle providing energy, and/or other factors or combination thereof.The vehicle needing energy may follow the suggested path to meet up withone or more vehicles providing energy. In further examples, one or moreof the vehicles may no longer be able to share energy, and a vehicleplanning on receiving energy from such vehicles may execute the processof identifying alternative candidate vehicles from which to receiveenergy.

In further embodiments, an opportunistic approach may be performed wherevehicles that are in close proximity to each other may initiate atransfer of energy without central organization or scheduled planning.The opportunistic approach may be implemented by vehicles that arewilling to share part of their energy and/or vehicles wanting to receiveenergy. Each of the vehicles may independently drive towards itsdestination, and during the journey, there may be other vehicles inclose proximity with which energy could be exchanged.

In an example opportunistic approach, a first vehicle may determine itsenergy abundance or shortage given its destination and planned journeyparameters. The energy abundance and/or shortage may be determined asdescribed above where multiple factors may be taken into account. Forinstance the vehicle may estimate its required energy asE=Pxd_(r)/v_(c), where P is the power usage in W or J/s, d_(r) is theremaining distance in meters and v_(c) is the speed in m/s. Based on theenergy still available in the batteries, E_(BAT), of the vehicle anenergy shortage, E_(SHORT), may be defined as E_(SHORT)=E−E_(BAT). IfE_(SHORT) is positive there is energy shortage, and if E_(SHORT) isnegative there is an abundance of energy to reach the destination.

When E_(SHORT) is positive, the vehicle may require additional energy,and the vehicle may query one or more other vehicles in close proximityfor energy abundance. Close proximity may be a predefined range such asa 5 mile radius, for example, though any range, may be defined. Thequeried one or more vehicles may return their willingness (or not) toshare energy and the amount of energy that can be shared. There may beseveral techniques in which a vehicle may query vehicles in closeproximity. For example, a short range communication technology such asBluetooth or visible light communications may be used to communicatewith vehicles that are nearby. In another example, vehicles mayperiodically send their global positioning system (OPS) coordinates to acentral station or server by using, for instance, 3G or 4G communicationtechnology. A request may be sent to the server to return a list ofvehicles that are within a predefined range of the received GPScoordinates. Querying one or more vehicles in a predefined closeproximity may enable the requesting vehicle to reach one or morevehicles with which to exchange energy without significant changes intravel speed or route.

Next, for example, the server may return a list of vehicles that have anabundance of energy and are able to share at least a portion of theirenergy. Subsequently, the server and/or the requesting vehicle mayselect one of the vehicles from the list from which to receive energy.In an example process for selection of the vehicle from the list,elements of the list may be defined by a pair (id, E_(SHARE,id)) whereid stands for the identity of the vehicle on the list and E_(SHARE,id)stands for the energy it has available for sharing. A first option maybe to choose a vehicle on the list for which E_(SHARE,id) d has thelargest value, which may ensure that a maximum amount of energy can bereceived. However, the requesting vehicle may not require a full amountof E_(SHARE,id) to reach the destination. Another possibility may be tochoose the vehicle that has the smallest E_(SHARE,id) for whichE_(SHARE,id)>E_(SHORT), where E_(SHORT) is the energy that is requiredto reach the destination. This may allow the requesting vehicle toreceive enough energy to reach its destination, and may enable othervehicles to remain available for other vehicles that may require alarger amount of energy to reach their destination.

In another embodiment, the selection of a vehicle from the list ofvehicles that have an abundance of energy may also be based onadditional factors. For instance, other vehicles may not only advertisethe amount of energy available for sharing, E_(SHARE,id), but also atleast a portion of their planned routes. Since vehicles on the list mayhave different final destinations and may leave the road at differenttimes, a full amount of available energy, E_(SHARE,id), may not beavailable for sharing. Knowing at least a portion of the planned routeof the vehicles on the list may allow the value of E_(SHARE,id) to beadjusted such that an actual amount of available energy that can beshared may be taken into account. A process incorporating the plannedroutes may be to provide a list of vehicles within a predefinedproximity with available energy to share including at least a portion ofa planned route and/or final destination for each of the vehicles on thelist. A route may be defined as a sequence of GPS coordinates, a seriesof mile markers, and/or road entries and exits, as some examples. Anoverlap between the route of the requesting vehicle and each of thevehicles on the list may be determined. The overlap may include alocation and/or an amount of time the requesting vehicle may betraveling on the same road as the vehicles on the list. Subsequently, acorresponding amount of energy, E_(id,act), that can be shared duringthe time the vehicles are within a predefined range of each other may bedetermined. Next, a vehicle on the list with a smallest E_(id,act) suchthat E_(id,act)>E_(SHORT) may be selected. The requesting vehicle maythen exchange energy with the selected vehicle through WET unitsincorporated with each of the vehicles. In some cases, either and/orboth of the vehicles may change its speed and/or direction such thatboth vehicles may be in a preferred position for efficient wirelessenergy transfer.

In an example scenario, a first user (User A) may be traveling by carfrom San Francisco to Los Angeles, which is approximately a 380-miledrive. User A may have an electric vehicle with self-drivingcapabilities that has a range of 300 miles when fully charged. User Astarts its journey with a fully charged vehicle and selects to travel toLos Angeles. A vehicle control system determines that there is an energyshortage that corresponds to about 80 miles. While driving on thehighway the vehicle may periodically query vehicles within a predefinedrange for an energy abundance. In the example, for the first 150-200miles, the highway may not be very crowded and there may be no vehiclesin the near environment a user A that have an abundance of energy. Thesituation may change when a vehicle of a user (User B) enters thehighway to travel from Coalinga to Bakersfield. User B may have asimilar electric vehicle as User A with a range of 300 miles.Furthermore, the vehicle of User B may have a fully charged battery.Since the trip from Coalinga to Bakersfield is only 100 miles, thevehicle of User B may have an energy abundance corresponding to 200miles. Shortly after User B has entered the highway, the vehicle of UserA may perform queries for vehicles having an energy abundance. Thevehicle of User B may signal to the vehicle of User A that it has energyabundance and is willing to share. Furthermore, the vehicle of User Bmay signal that it is traveling from Coalinga to Bakersfield. Thevehicle of User A may execute the process described herein to select avehicle in the near environment from which to receive energy. First, anoverlap between the routes may be determined as about 80 miles. Second,it may be determined that the overlap implies the vehicles will be ineach other's near environment for at least for 1 hour. Furthermore, thevehicles have wireless charging technology that allows charging at arate of 100 miles of range per hour. In this case, the vehicle of User Bmay be the only vehicle near the vehicle of User A, and the vehicles mayposition themselves to allow for efficient wireless energy transfer.During the hour in which they are in each other's near proximity, anamount of energy may be transferred from the vehicle of User B to thevehicle of User A corresponding to a range of 90 miles, which may enableUser A to make the trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles withoutneeding to stop for recharging. Furthermore, User B may still able tomake it to its final destination.

FIG. 4 illustrates a general purpose computing device 400, which may beconfigured to be used in connection with wireless vehicle energysharing, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein. For example, the computing device may be used to implement thecontroller 110, may be implemented as part of a vehicle in a vehicleconvoy, may be implemented in a vehicle outside of the vehicle convoy,may be implemented in a stationary (e.g. non-vehicle) location, etc.

For example, the computing device 400 may be used to implement wirelessvehicle energy sharing as described herein. In an example basicconfiguration 402, the computing device 400 may include one or moreprocessors 404 and a system memory 406. A memory bus 408 may be used tocommunicate between the processor 404 and the system memory 406. Thebasic configuration 402 is illustrated in FIG. 4 by those componentswithin the inner dashed line.

Depending on the desired configuration, the processor 404 may be of anytype, including but not limited to a microprocessor (μP), amicrocontroller (μC), a digital signal processor (DSP), or anycombination thereof. The processor 404 may include one more levels ofcaching, such as a cache memory 412, a processor core 414, and registers416. The example processor core 414 may include an arithmetic logic unit(ALU), a floating point unit (FPU), a digital signal processing core(DSP core), or any combination thereof. An example memory controller 418may also be used with the processor 404, or in some implementations, thememory controller 418 may be an internal part of the processor 404.

Depending on the desired configuration, the system memory 406 may be ofany type including but not limited to volatile memory (such as RAM),non-volatile memory such as ROM, flash memory, etc.) or any combinationthereof. The system memory 406 may include an operating system 420, awireless vehicle charging module 422 and program data 424. The wirelessvehicle charging module 422 may include a controller module 426 tofacilitate coordination of a charge vehicle with one or more vehicles inneed of charging and the subsequent re-charging of the vehicles. Theprogram data 424 may include vehicle charging data 428 which may includedata related to vehicles having charge to share and vehicles in need ofcharging as described herein.

The computing device 400 may have, additional features or functionality,and additional interfaces to facilitate communications between the basicconfiguration 402 and any desired devices and interfaces. For example, abus/interface controller 430 may be used to facilitate communicationsbetween the basic configuration 402 and one or more data storage devices432 via a storage interface bus 434. The data storage devices 432 may beone or more removable storage devices 436, one or more non-removablestorage devices 438, or a combination thereof. Examples of the removablestorage and the non-removable storage devices include magnetic diskdevices such as flexible disk drives and bard-disk drives (HDDs),optical disk drives such as compact disk (CD) drives or digitalversatile disk (DVD) drives, solid state drives (SSDs), and tape drivesto name a few. Example computer storage media may include volatile andnon-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in anymethod or technology for storage of information, such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.

The system memory 406, the removable storage devices 436 and thenon-removable storage devices 438 are examples of computer storagemedia. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM.EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVDs), solid state drives (SSDs), or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which may be used tostore the desired information and which may be accessed by the computingdevice 400. Any such computer storage media may be part of the computingdevice 400.

The computing device 400 may also include an interface bus 440 forfacilitating communication from various interface devices (e.g., one ormore output devices 442, one or more peripheral interfaces 444, and oneor more communication devices 466) to the basic configuration 402 viathe bus/interface controller 430. Some of the example output devices 442include a graphics processing unit 448 and an audio processing unit 450,which may be configured to communicate to various external devices suchas a display or speakers via one or more A/V ports 452. One or moreexample peripheral interfaces 444 may include a serial interfacecontroller 454 or a parallel interface controller 456, which may beconfigured to communicate with external devices such as input devices(e.g., keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device,etc.) or other peripheral devices (e.g., printer, scanner, etc.) via oneor more I/O ports 458. An example communication device 466 includes anetwork controller 460, which may be arranged to facilitatecommunications with one or more other computing devices 462 over anetwork communication link via one or more communication ports 464.

The network communication link may be one example of a communicationmedia. Communication media may be embodied by computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in amodulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and may include any information delivery media. A “modulateddata signal” may be a signal that has one or more of its characteristicsset or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal.By way of example, and not limitation, communication media may includewired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, andwireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), microwave,infrared (IR) and other wireless media. The term computer readable mediaas used herein may include both storage media and communication media.

The computing device 400 may be implemented as a part of a generalpurpose or specialized server, mainframe, or similar computer thatincludes any of the above functions. The computing device 400 may alsobe implemented as a personal computer including both laptop computer andnon-laptop computer configurations.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method to providewireless vehicle energy sharing in a centrally controlled system, whichmay be performed or otherwise controlled by a computing device 510 suchas the computing device in FIG. 4, arranged in accordance with at leastsome embodiments described herein.

Example methods may include one or more operations, functions or actionsas illustrated by one or more of blocks 522, 524, and/or 526, and may insome embodiments be performed by a computing device such as thecomputing device 510 in FIG. 5. The operations described in the blocks522-526 may also be performed in response to execution ofcomputer-executable instructions stored in a computer-readable medium,such as a computer-readable medium 520 of a computing device 510. Othertechnique for performing the depicted operations may be used. Further,the depicted operations need not necessarily be performed in the preciseorder shown. Also, various operations may be added, removed, modified,and/or combined.

An example process to provide wireless vehicle energy sharing in acentrally controlled system may begin with block 522, “DETERMINE ONE ORMORE VEHICLES WITH A NEED TO RECHARGE,” where a vehicle having ashortage of energy to reach a predefined destination may be identifiedby a controller managing a wireless energy sharing system or acontroller on the vehicle. A shortage of energy may be determined asdescribed herein.

Block 522 may be followed by block 524, “INSTRUCT THE ONE OR MOREVEHICLES TO POSITION NEAR A CHARGE VEHICLE TO RECEIVE ELECTRICAL ENERGYWIRELESSLY FOR THE NEEDED RECHARGE,” where the one or more vehicles witha need to recharge or that could otherwise benefit from a recharge maybe instructed by the controller managing the wireless energy sharingsystem to position near a vehicle having an abundance of energy toshare, such as a charge vehicle. The one or more vehicles to berecharged may be members of a vehicle convoy led by a group leadervehicle, where the group leader vehicle may be a charge vehicle storingan abundance of energy.

Block 524 may be followed by block 526, “INSTRUCT THE CHARGE VEHICLE TORECHARGE THE ONE OR MORE VEHICLES WHEN POSITIONED NEAR THE CHARGEVEHICLE,” where the charge vehicle may wirelessly transfer a definedamount of energy to the one or more vehicles needing recharge throughone or more wireless energy transfer units incorporated with each of thevehicles. The charge vehicle may transfer energy to one vehicle at atime or may transfer energy to two or more vehicles concurrently. Thecontroller managing the wireless energy sharing system may instruct thecharge vehicle to perform the energy transfer, as well as instructingthe one or more vehicles to receive the energy transfer. In anotherembodiment, the charge vehicle may be another vehicle having anabundance of energy to share and located within a predefined range ofthe vehicle needing recharge. The vehicle to be recharged may identify avehicle having available charge to share and may position itself nearthe vehicle to facilitate energy exchange. Furthermore, the controllermay facilitate coordination of meeting and exchanging energy betweenvehicles.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer programproduct, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein. In some examples, as shown in FIG. 6, a computer program product600 may include a signal bearing medium 602 that may also include one ormore machine readable instructions 604 that, in response to executionby, for example, a processor may provide the functionality and featuresdescribed herein. Thus, for example, referring to the processor 404 inFIG. 4, the wireless vehicle charging module 422 may undertake one ormore of the tasks shown in FIG. 6 in response to the instructions 604conveyed to the processor 404 by the signal bearing medium 602 toperform actions associated with providing wireless vehicle energysharing in a centrally controlled system as described herein. Some ofthose instructions may include, for example, instructions to determineone or more vehicles with a need to recharge, instruct the one or morevehicles to position near a charge vehicle to receive electrical energywirelessly for the needed recharge, and/or instruct the charge vehicleto recharge the one or more vehicles when positioned near the chargevehicle, according to some embodiments described herein.

In some implementations, the signal hearing medium 602 depicted in FIG.6 may encompass a computer-readable medium 606, such as, but not limitedto, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a compact disk(CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), digital tape, memory, etc. In someimplementations, the signal bearing medium 602 may encompass arecordable medium 608, such as, but not limited to, memory, read/write(R/W) CDs, R/W DVDs, etc. In some implementations, the signal bearingmedium 602 may encompass a communications medium 610, such as, but notlimited to, a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., afiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communication link, a wirelesscommunication link, etc.). Thus, for example, the computer programproduct 600 may be conveyed to one or more modules of the processor 404by an RF signal bearing medium, where the signal bearing medium 602 isconveyed by the wireless communications medium 610 (e.g., a wirelesscommunications medium conforming with the IEEE 802.11 standard).

According to some examples, a distributed system to provide wirelessenergy sharing within a vehicle convoy may be described. The system mayinclude a charge vehicle communicatively coupled to a plurality ofvehicles in the vehicle convoy, where the charge vehicle may beconfigured to provide electrical energy to at least one of the pluralityof vehicles and the plurality of vehicles may be configured to bepowered by electrical energy and may be configured to rechargewirelessly while moving. The system may also include the at least onevehicle from the plurality of vehicles, which may be configured todetermine a situation the at least one vehicle to receive a recharge,determine that the charge vehicle may be capable to provide therecharge, position near the charge vehicle to wirelessly receiveelectrical energy for the recharge, and recharge through wireless energytransfer from the charge vehicle.

According to some examples, the at least one vehicle in the plurality ofvehicles may be configured to exchange a position in the vehicle convoywith another vehicle in the plurality of vehicles according to remainingcharge levels of the at least one vehicle and the other vehicle. Thecharge vehicle may be further configured to instruct two or more of theplurality of vehicles to approach the charge vehicle in an orderaccording to remaining charge levels of the two or more vehicles or atime of request to recharge received from each vehicle.

According to some examples, the charge vehicle may be further configuredto provide the electrical energy to two or more of the plurality ofvehicles simultaneously. The charge vehicle and the plurality ofvehicles include one or more of: a car, a truck, a bus, a van, a boat, aship, or a robotic vehicle. The at least one vehicle may be configuredto position near the charge vehicle by one of automated self-navigationbased on instructions received from the charge vehicle or presentationof instructions to approach the charge vehicle to a driver of the atleast one vehicle.

According to other examples, the charge vehicle may be furtherconfigured to determine a suggested path for the at least one vehicle toapproach the charge vehicle based on one or more of a remaining chargelevel of the at least one vehicle, a present location of the at leastone vehicle, a present location of the charge vehicle, a direction ofthe charge vehicle, a direction of the at least one vehicle, a speed ofthe charge vehicle, a speed of the at least one vehicle, and one or moreobstacles between the charge vehicle and the at least one vehicle, andtransmit the suggested path to the at least one vehicle.

According to further examples, the at least one vehicle may be furtherconfigured to determine a suggested path for the at least one vehicle toapproach the charge vehicle based on one or more of a remaining chargelevel of the at least one vehicle, a present location of the at leastone vehicle, a present location of the charge vehicle, a direction ofthe charge vehicle, a direction of the at least one vehicle, a speed ofthe charge vehicle, a speed of the at least one vehicle, and one or moreobstacles between the charge vehicle and the at least one vehicle.

According to some examples, a system to provide wireless energy sharingbetween vehicles in a vehicle convoy may be described. The system mayinclude a charge vehicle configured to lead the vehicle convoy storeelectrical energy, and wirelessly provide the stored electrical energyto a plurality of other vehicles in the vehicle convoy, where theplurality of other vehicles may be configured to be powered byelectrical energy and configured to recharge wirelessly while moving,and a controller communicatively coupled to the charge vehicle and theplurality of other vehicles. The controller may be configured todetermine one or more vehicles among the plurality of other vehicles toreceive a recharge, instruct the one or more vehicles to position in anorder relative to the charge vehicle within the vehicle convoy towirelessly receive electrical energy for the recharge, where the ordermay be determined according to remaining charge levels of the one ormore vehicles, and instruct the charge vehicle to recharge the one ormore vehicles miff being positioned near the charge vehicle.

According to some examples, in order to instruct the one or morevehicles to position in the order relative to the charge vehicle, thecontroller may be configured to instruct the one or more vehicles toposition behind the charge vehicle in an order according to a distancebetween the charge vehicle and the one or more vehicles, or a time ofrequest to recharge received from each vehicle.

According to some examples, in order to wirelessly provide the storedelectrical energy, the charge vehicle may be configured to provide theelectrical energy to two or more vehicles simultaneously, and where thecontroller may be further configured to instruct the two or morevehicles to approach the charge vehicle at a same time. The chargevehicle and the plurality of other vehicles include one or more of acar, a truck, a bus, a van, a boat, a ship, or a robotic vehicle.

According to other examples, the charge vehicle and the plurality ofother vehicles include robotic vehicles and the controller may beconfigured to provide one of navigation or instructions for automatedself-navigation.

According to some, examples, in order to instruct the one or morevehicles to position in the order relative to the charge vehicle, thecontroller may be configured to instruct the one or more vehicles toposition in an order behind the charge vehicle by one of transmission ofautomated self-navigation instructions or transmission of instructionsto be presented to a driver of the one or more vehicles.

According to further examples, the controller may be further configuredto determine a suggested path for the one or more vehicles to approachthe charge vehicle based on one or more of remaining charge levels ofthe one or more vehicles, present locations of the one or more vehicles,a present location of the charge vehicle, a direction of the chargevehicle, directions of the one or more vehicles, a speed of the chargevehicle, speeds of the one or more vehicles, and one or more, obstaclesbetween the charge vehicle and the one or more vehicles, and transmitthe suggested path to the one or more vehicles.

According to yet other examples, the controller may include acommunication module configured to communicate with the charge vehicleand the plurality of other vehicles through one or more of cellularwireless communication, wide area network (WAN) wireless communication,or satellite communication.

According to some examples, a method to provide wireless energy sharingbetween vehicles in a vehicle convoy may be described. The method mayinclude determining one or more vehicles to receive a recharge, the oneor more vehicles within the vehicle convoy including a charge vehicle,the charge vehicle configured to store and provide electrical energy tothe one or more vehicles, instructing the one or more vehicles toposition in an order relative to the charge vehicle to receiveelectrical energy wirelessly for the recharge, where the order may bedetermined based on remaining charge levels of the one or more vehicles,and instructing the charge vehicle to recharge the one or more vehiclesafter being positioned near the charge vehicle.

According to some examples, the method may include determining asuggested path for the one or more vehicles to approach the chargevehicle based on one or more of remaining charge levels of the one ormore vehicles, present locations of the one or more vehicles, a presentlocation of the charge vehicle, a direction of the charge vehicle,directions of the one or more vehicles, a speed of the charge vehicle,speeds of the one or more vehicles, and one or more obstacles betweenthe charge vehicle and the one or more vehicles.

According to some examples, instructing the one or more vehicles toposition in the order relative to the charge vehicle may includeinstructing the one or more vehicles to approach the charge vehicle inan order according to remaining charge levels of the one or morevehicles, a distance between the charge vehicle and the one or morevehicles, or a time of request to recharge received from each vehicle.

According to other examples, instructing the one or more vehicles toposition in the order relative to the charge vehicle may includeinstructing the one or more vehicles to approach the charge vehicle at asame time, where instructing the charge vehicle to recharge the one ormore vehicles includes instructing the charge vehicle may be configuredto provide the electrical energy to two or more vehicles simultaneously.

According to yet other examples, instructing the one or more vehicles toposition in the order relative to the charge vehicle may includeinstructing the one or more vehicles to position near the charge vehicleby one of transmission of automated self-navigation instructions ortransmission of instruction to be presented to a driver of the tine ormore vehicles.

According to further examples, the method may include identifying one ofthe vehicles in the vehicle convoy as having extra charge, identifyinganother of the vehicles in the vehicle convoy as having a chargeshortage, instructing the vehicle having the charge shortage to positionitself near the vehicle having the extra charge to receive electricalenergy wirelessly for a recharge, and instructing the vehicle havingextra charge to provide electrical energy to the vehicle having thecharge shortage.

According to some examples, a charge vehicle to provide wireless energysharing to a plurality of vehicles within a vehicle convoy may bedescribed. The charge vehicle may include a wireless communicationmodule configured to communicate with the plurality of vehicles, a powerstorage unit (PSU) configured to store electrical energy, a wirelessenergy transfer (WET) unit coupled to the PSU and configured towirelessly provide electrical energy to one or more a the plurality ofvehicles positioned near the charge vehicle, and a controller coupled tothe wireless communication module, the PSU, and the WET unit.

The controller may be configured to receive a request to recharge fromthe one or more of the plurality of vehicles, instruct the one or moreof the plurality of vehicles to position in an order relative to thecharge vehicle to receive the electrical energy wirelessly, and instructthe WET unit to transfer the electrical energy from the PSU to the oneor more of the plurality of vehicles positioned relative to the chargevehicle.

According to some examples, in order to instruct the one or more of theplurality of vehicles to position in the order relative to the chargevehicle, the controller may be configured to instruct the one or more ofthe plurality of vehicles to approach the charge vehicle in an orderaccording to remaining charge levels of the one or more of the pluralityof vehicles, a distance between the charge vehicle and the one or moreof the plurality of vehicles, or a time of request to recharge receivedfrom each vehicle. The charge vehicle includes a truck and the pluralityof vehicles include one or more of a car, a truck, a bus, or a van.

According to other examples, the controller may be further configured todetermine a suggested path for the one or more of the plurality ofvehicles to approach the charge vehicle based on one or more ofremaining charge levels of the one or more of the plurality of vehicles,present locations of the one or more of the plurality of vehicles, apresent location of the charge vehicle, a direction of the chargevehicle, directions of the one or more of the plurality of vehicles, aspeed of the charge vehicle, speeds of the one or more of the pluralityof vehicles and one or more obstacles between the charge vehicle and theone or more of the plurality vehicles, and control the wirelesscommunication module to transmit the suggested path to the one or moreof the plurality of vehicles.

Various embodiments may be implemented in hardware, software, orcombination of both hardware and software (or other computer-readableinstructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumand executable by one or more processors); the use of hardware orsoftware is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts thechoice between hardware and software may become significant) a designchoice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs. There are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein may be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and the preferred vehicle will vary with the context in whichthe processes and/or systems and/or other technologies are deployed. Forexample, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy areparamount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmwarevehicle; if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for amainly software implementation; or, yet again alternatively, theimplementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/orfirmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, each functionand/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples maybe implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range ofhardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. Inone embodiment, several portions of the subject matter described hereinmay be implemented via application specific integrated circuits (ASICs),field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors(DSPs), or other integrated formats. However, some aspects of theembodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, may be equivalentlyimplemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programsexecuting on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programsexecuting on one or more computer systems), as one or more programsexecuting on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programsexecuting on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtuallyany combination thereof, and designing the circuitry and/or writing thecode for the software and/or firmware are possible in light of thisdisclosure.

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its spirit and scope. Functionallyequivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the disclosure,in addition to those enumerated herein, are possible from the foregoingdescriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to tallwithin the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to belimited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Also, theterminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting.

In addition, the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein arecapable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms,and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter describedherein applies regardless of the particular type of signal hearingmedium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signalbearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: arecordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), acompact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a digital tape, acomputer memory, a solid state drive (SSD), etc.; and a transmissiontype medium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium(e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communication link, awireless communication link, etc.).

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such describeddevices and/or processes into data processing systems. That is, at leasta portion of the devices and/or processes described herein may beintegrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. A data processing system may include one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one ormore interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or controlsystems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback forsensing position and/or velocity of gantry systems; control motors to,move and/or adjust components and/or quantities).

A data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitablecommercially available components, such as those found in datacomputing/communication and/or network computing/communication systems.The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. Such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and infact, many other architectures may be implemented which achieve the samefunctionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components toachieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that thedesired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components hereincombined to achieve a particular functionality may be seen as“associated with” each other such that the desired functionality isachieved, irrespective of architectures or intermediate components.Likewise, any two components so associated may also be viewed as being“operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achievethe desired functionality, and any two components capable of being soassociated may also be viewed as being “operably couplable”, to eachother to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples ofoperably couplable include but are not limited to physically connectableand/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactableand/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interactingand for interactable components.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of theappended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation, no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one”or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articlesused to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specificnumber of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g.. the harerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at leasttwo recitations, or two or more recitations).

Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general, such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g. “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” wouldinclude but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, Calone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those withinthe art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting twoor more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, ordrawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities ofincluding one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. Forexample, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include thepossibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and allpurposes, such as in terms of providing a written description, allranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subrangesand combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easilyrecognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range beingbroken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths,tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein canbe readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third,etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all languagesuch as “up to,” “at least,” “greater than,” “less than,” and the likeinclude the number recited and refer to ranges which can be subsequentlybroken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will beunderstood by one skilled in the art, a range includes each individualmember. Thus, for example, a group having 1-3 cells refers to groupshaving 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1-5 cells refers togroups having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so forth.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments are possible. The various aspects andembodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and arenot intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit beingindicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method to coordinate wireless energy exchangebetween vehicles, the method comprising: obtaining information that isat least indicative of energy shortage for a first vehicle to reach adestination; determining a second vehicle based on an intersection of afirst route followed by the first vehicle and a second route followed bythe second vehicle, wherein the second vehicle has energy abundance;instructing the second vehicle to reserve a particular amount of energyto share with the first vehicle; determining a path for the firstvehicle to approach the second vehicle, wherein the determination of thepath is based on one or more of: a current location of the firstvehicle, a current location of the second vehicle, a remaining energylevel of the first vehicle, a current direction of travel of the firstvehicle, a current direction of travel of the second vehicle, a currentspeed of the first vehicle, and a current speed of the second vehicle;and transmitting, to the first vehicle, information about the determinedpath to enable the first vehicle to use the transmitted information totravel along the determined path.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinobtaining the information comprises obtaining information that isfurther indicative of the first route and estimated route timings of thefirst route.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the secondvehicle comprises determining the intersection of the first route andthe second route based on the first route, the second route, estimatedroute timings of the first route, and estimated route timings of thesecond route.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining theintersection of the first route and the second route comprisesdetermining a temporal intersection and a spatial intersection of thefirst route and the second route.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining a time for the first vehicle to approach thesecond vehicle; and transmitting the determined time to the firstvehicle.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the pathcomprises determining a route that intersects temporally and spatiallywith the second route.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining thesecond vehicle comprises selecting the second vehicle from a pluralityof vehicles.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein selecting the secondvehicle from the plurality of vehicles comprises determining a subset ofvehicles from the plurality of vehicles, wherein the subset of vehiclesinclude vehicles that share at least a portion of respective routes withthe first route followed by the first vehicle and that have at least theparticular amount of energy to share with the first vehicle.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the obtained information comprises firstinformation, and wherein the method further comprises: receiving secondinformation that is indicative of energy abundance of the secondvehicle.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining aspeed for the first vehicle to approach the second vehicle; andtransmitting the determined speed to the first vehicle.
 11. The methodof claim 10, wherein the determined speed is different from the currentspeed of the first vehicle.
 12. An apparatus, comprising: a controllerconfigured to communicate with a plurality of vehicles and effective tocoordinate wireless energy exchange between the plurality of vehicles,wherein the controller is configured to: obtain information indicativeof energy shortage for a first vehicle, of the plurality of vehicles, toreach a destination; determine a second vehicle, of the plurality ofvehicles, based on an intersection of a first routed followed by thefirst vehicle and a second route followed by the second vehicle, whereinthe second vehicle has energy abundance; transmit an instruction to thesecond vehicle to reserve a particular amount of energy to share withthe first vehicle; determine a path and a speed for the first vehicle toapproach the second vehicle, wherein the determination of the path andthe speed is based on one or more of: a current location of the firstvehicle, a current location of the second vehicle, a remaining chargelevel of the first vehicle, a current direction of travel of the firstvehicle, a current direction of travel of the second vehicle, a currentspeed of the first vehicle, and a current speed of the second vehicle;and transmit, to the first vehicle, information about the determinedpath and the determined speed to enable the first vehicle to use thetransmitted information to travel along the determined path.
 13. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured todetermine the intersection of the first route and the second route. 14.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the intersection of the first routeand the second route comprises a temporal intersection and a spatialintersection of the first route and the second route.
 15. The apparatusof claim 12, wherein the first route comprises the determined path. 16.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the determined path comprises analtered version of the first route.
 17. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein to determine the second vehicle, the controller is configuredto: determine a subset of vehicles from the plurality of vehicles,wherein the subset of vehicles include vehicles that share at least aportion of respective mutes with the first route followed by the firstvehicle and that have at least the particular amount of energy to sharewith the first vehicle; and select the second vehicle from the subset ofvehicles based on a temporal intersection and a spatial intersection ofthe first route and the second route.
 18. A method performed by avehicle to coordinate wireless energy exchange with one or more othervehicles, the method comprising; determining energy shortage, tier thevehicle to reach a destination; sending a request to a server to providea list of vehicles that have energy abundance and that are within aparticular range of the vehicle; receiving the list of vehicles from theserver; selecting another vehicle, from a plurality of vehiclesindicated in the list of vehicles, to wirelessly receive energy from theselected other vehicle; positioning the vehicle near the selected othervehicle; and receiving the energy wirelessly from the selected othervehicle.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein determining the energyshortage for the vehicle comprises determining the energy shortage basedon a distance to the destination, a current speed of travel of thevehicle, and current energy usage by the vehicle.
 20. The method ofclaim 18, wherein selecting the other vehicle comprises selecting avehicle that can transfer maximum energy from among the plurality ofvehicles.
 21. The method of claim 18, wherein selecting the othervehicle comprises selecting a vehicle that can transfer minimum energyfrom among the plurality of vehicles, and wherein the minimum energythat can be transferred by the selected vehicle is greater than theenergy shortage for the vehicle to reach the intended destination. 22.The method of claim 18, further comprising; receiving informationindicative of at least one of respective planned routes and respectivedestinations of the plurality of vehicles, wherein selecting the othervehicle comprises selecting a vehicle based on at least one of therespective planned routes and the respective destinations of theplurality of vehicles, and wherein selecting the other vehicle based onthe respective planned routes of the plurality of vehicles comprisesdetermining a temporal intersection and a spatial intersection of aroute followed by the first vehicle and the respective planned route ofeach of the plurality of vehicles.
 23. The method of claim 18, whereinselecting the other vehicle comprises determining a respective amount ofenergy that can be shared by each of the plurality of vehicles based ona respective initial amount of energy available with each of theplurality of vehicles and a respective planned route of each of theplurality of vehicles.
 24. The method of claim 18, wherein positioningthe first vehicle near the selected other vehicle comprises altering aroute hallowed by the first vehicle to reach the destination.
 25. Themethod of claim 18, wherein positioning the first vehicle near theselected other vehicle comprises altering a current speed of the firstvehicle to reach the destination.
 26. A vehicle effective to wirelesslyexchange energy with one or more other vehicles, the vehicle comprising:wireless communication hardware configured to communicate with the oneor more other vehicles and a server; a power storage unit (PSU)configured to store energy; a wireless energy transfer (WET) unitoperatively coupled to the PSU and configured to wirelessly exchangeenergy with the one or more other vehicles positioned near the vehicle;and a controller operatively coupled to the wireless communicationhardware, the PSU, and the WET unit, wherein the controller isconfigured to: determine energy shortage for the vehicle to reach adestination; transmit, via the wireless communication hardware, arequest to the server to provide a list of vehicles that have energyabundance and that are within a particular range of the vehicle; obtain,via the wireless communication hardware, the list of vehicles from theserver; select another vehicle, from a plurality of vehicles indicatedin the list of vehicles, to wirelessly receive energy from the selectedother vehicle; position the vehicle near the selected other vehicle;operate the WET unit to receive the energy wirelessly from the selectedother vehicle; and operate the PST to store the received energy.. 27.The vehicle of claim 26, wherein the wireless communication hardware isconfigured to communicate with the one or more other vehicles by visiblelight communication.
 28. The vehicle of claim 26, wherein: thecontroller is further configured to receive information indicative ofrespective planned routes of the plurality of vehicles, and to selectthe other vehicle, the controller is configured to determine a temporalintersection and a spatial intersection of a route followed by the firstvehicle and a respective planned route of each of the plurality ofvehicles.
 29. The vehicle of claim 28, wherein the temporal intersectionof the route followed by the first vehicle and a particular routefollowed by a particular vehicle comprises an amount of time for whichthe first vehicle and the particular vehicle will be travelling on asame path.
 30. The vehicle of claim 26 wherein to position the firstvehicle near the selected vehicle, the controller is configured to altera route followed by the first vehicle to reach the destination.
 31. Thevehicle of claim 26, wherein the WET unit is positioned on a front sideor a rear side of the vehicle.
 32. A vehicle effective to wirelesslyexchange energy with one or more vehicles, the vehicle comprising:wireless communication hardware configured to communicate with theplurality of vehicles; a power storage unit (PSU) configured to storeenergy; a wireless energy transfer (WET) unit operatively coupled to thePSI and configured to wirelessly exchange energy with a plurality ofvehicles positioned near the vehicle; and a controller operativelycoupled to the wireless communication hardware, the PSU, and the WETunit, wherein the controller is configured to: determine energy shortagefor the vehicle to reach a destination; transmit, via the wirelesscommunication hardware, a query for energy abundance to the plurality ofvehicles; obtain, via the wireless communication hardware and from atleast two vehicles among the plurality of vehicles, an affirmativeresponse to the query; select another vehicle, from the at least twovehicles, to wirelessly receive energy based at least on a temporaloverlap and a spatial overlap of a mute followed by the vehicle and arespective route followed by each of the at least two vehicles; positionthe vehicle near the selected other vehicle; operate the WET unit toreceive the energy wirelessly from the selected other vehicle; andoperate the PST to store the received energy.